Another Saudi Cup defection: Laurel River out with minor injury

Laurel River, smashing winner of the 2024 Dubai World Cup, is the latest defection from the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22.

Laurel River’s trainer, Bhupat Seemar, posted on social media that Laurel River had suffered a minor setback that prevented him from undertaking his final breeze before the Saudi Cup. Seemar said Laurel River instead would be aimed to the Dubai World Cup on April 5.

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Seemar trains Laurel River for his breeder, Juddmonte, in Dubai, and gave Laurel River a long break following his World Cup breakout last March. Laurel River returned to racing last month with a useful second-place finish in the 1,600-meter Firebreak Stakes at Meydan, which was meant to serve as a Saudi Cup prep.

The Saudi Cup at one point looked like it would bring together a star-studded cast from around the globe, but Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone was withdrawn from consideration after getting a foot abscess, and the connections of Pegasus World Cup one-two finishers White Abarrio and Locked are passing the race. The Kenny McPeek-trained Rattle N Roll, who won the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup two weekends ago in Riyadh, is expected to be the lone American participant in the world’s richest race.

The last two world-class expected runners are Romantic Warrior, the Hong Kong superstar who will make his first and probably only dirt start in the 1,800-meter, one-turn contest, and Forever Young, the Japanese 4-year-old who nearly won the Kentucky Derby and finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

An earlier version of this article misstated the reason for Sierra Leone's defection. He withdrew because of a foot abscess, not illness.

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